Saturday 14 July 2012 19.08 EDT
First published on Saturday 14 July 2012 19.08 EDT

There are a lot of people who haven't heard my music. They've probably heard my name in some way, like with the whole Columbine thing [Manson's music was blamed for inspiring the Columbine High School massacre], but I don't expect them to understand me – I'm not that arrogant.

As a kid I had buck teeth and braces and acne. I hated what I saw. I'm still not comfortable, but that's why I change and adapt the way I look.

My body is a place where drugs and alcohol have made germs afraid to live. I have no health problems to speak of, touch wood.

My girlfriend Lindsay's twin just had a baby and I've started to think that maybe I wouldn't mind passing my demented genius on to some small thing who can set fire and breathe profanity.

The advantage of the internet is that it has taken away the charade of politics. China has heard of democracy and people know about certain concepts they wouldn't have previously.

I fall in love very easily. I love absinthe, I love being alive, I love music. But love is a narrow word. It's hard to define.

I am drawn to women who are independent and creative, which is problematic because it's a struggle, a competition of careers. There's jealousy. And if you don't want to be known as Marilyn Manson's girlfriend, why would you be it?

I'm on good terms with my ex-wife [Dita Von Teese], but I saw her last night at the Met Bar in London and I think there's a part of her that's still pissed at me.

I can't sleep without the TV on. It doesn't matter where it is. I don't like silence. My ears ring from loud music.

I think maybe my dad understands me. It's hard to tell. I find the people who understand me best are the people who don't assume things.

Johnny Depp is like a brother to me. We have matching tattoos on our backs – Charles Baudelaire, the flowers of evil, this giant skeleton thing. It's kind of a secret. People say to us, "Why did you get that?" And we say, "No reason."

Actors always want to be musicians and musicians want to be actors. The thing with Johnny is, he was a musician first, so he knows how to jam. He has taught me how to get in a room with someone I don't know and start playing.

My mum has dementia so she doesn't know who I am now, but when she did she'd say: "Gentlemen prefer blondes." And I would say: "But I'm a villain."

If you think about it, the hero is the good guy almost by default. They have this moral code they follow simply because they're supposed to, not because they really believe in it. The villain is the one with real passion.

I'm not some sort of sexual deviant. I think I would laugh nervously in the face of a threesome. I'm shy. I'm the kind of person who turns the lights out.

Marilyn Manson's album, Born Villain, is out now. UK tour dates are to be announced

After a lifetime of being an outsider, Marilyn Manson, born Brian Warner, is coming to terms with his past. In a frank and soul-searching interview, he talks to Carole Cadwalladr about the loss of his mother, growing up angry – and why he’s ready for fatherhood